Conditioning testing

Hey everyone, I just wanted to drop a note about how much I enjoyed conditioning testing with all of you on Saturday. I was impressed with how everyone hung in and pushed themselves to their limits and beyond at times. I am looking forward to having such great energy as a team this saturday. We have come a long way since January and I am looking forward to continuing our training and growth past this test. I was extremely challenged on saturday both physically and mentally when my calves continued to cramp repeatedly. It was painful, but even more frustrating to be sitting on the ground while you all continued to spar. It was then that it was important for me to remember to keep my attitude in check and to remember my affirmation. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to be pushed so far physically and to continue to push further than we have. I truly appreciate you all and the individual contributions you have made to our Forged team. This test has been challenging for me, both physically and mentally. I have realized what it is like to spread myself too thin and have learned more about listening to my body. I have done things that I never expected to accomplish and pushed myself to do my best. Thank you all for being a part of my experience and let's bring it next weekend!

Third attempt

Nothing like writing journal entries multiple times on the final day and having blogger keep deleting them. Here is my third attempt at empathy training. I chose to be mute for my empathy training. This took some planning because I had to make sure that my staff and clients knew ahead of time that this would be happening and that I didn't have any meetings scheduled for the day. I ended up using written and gestural communication as my primary forms to get needs met, questions answered, directives given, etc. This was difficult and it became clear very quickly how much I rely on my voice. The day went smoothly for the most part, a few impromptu meetings, questions from staff and clients etc. were all able to be fielded with my alternative forms. Most people who interacted with me were interested and more than willing to participate in the challenge with me even though it extended the amount of time it took to do things. There was one person that I interacted with however that was not willing to participate and who was upset that I would ask her to communicate with me in that way. She wrote me a note that had a very angry tone telling me that it was part of my job to communicate with others. She was not willing to look at other forms of communication as alternatives to verbal interaction. I then made a professional decision to interact with her verbally so as not to strain our professional relationship. It was frustrating for me feeling as though she was very closed minded, but it was a good learning experience as well. I feel as though I got the opportunity to experience a small amount of the intolerance that people with limited abilities must have to deal with much more regularly. Overall I learned to have an appreciation and understanding on how much I rely on my ability to speak.

No added sugar challenge

Okay updating you all on the no added sugar challenge that was inspired by the corn syrup presentation that I missed. It has been about six weeks since I started and I am very glad I did. I feel like I have more energy and focus, and I have discovered new ways of eating with this in mind that are also delicious. I have pb and apples or baked apples with cinnamon instead of sugary desserts, I also have had ice cream made of only bananas and pb, and have discovered that there is sugar in many things I never would have suspected. The biggest difference is in the cravings, I have always eaten a lot of sugar and the first couple weeks were difficult but as time has gone on. It has become easier. I easily turned down some yummy smelling caramel corn at the pumpkin patch yesterday and realized the progress I have made since the start of this. I have started adding a couple natural sugars like honey and agave back in small amounts but I truly feel like this challenge has given me the willpower to make a healthy lifestyle change from here on out. I am committed to be much more aware of the things that I put in my body and how they affect me.

So I've been a little  scatter brain  lately with everything that has been happening this fall. October is a very busy month!!! It can be difficult, especially trying to prioritize what you need to do first. I find it hard to focus on just one task sometimes. We have less of a week for this test, and I can't lose that focus now. One way to help people like me who can become overwhelmed very easily, is try not to take on extra tasks for yourself. Don't say yes to do something just to please somebody when you have so many things on your plate.  Know your limits; you're in control of your life.

Metamoris

Although I'm still sore from yesterday's conditioning, I was back at Aim High to watch the Metamoris jiu jitsu  tournament.  It featured some of the greatest fighters in jiu jitsu in 8 20-minute matches that could only be won by submission.  This forced some of the competitors to change their strategy, because of the fact that there are no points awarded.  It was great to see how the competitors at such a high level fought.  Another amazing thing was their conditioning.  The last three matches went a full 20 minutes, and all of the fighters looked tired.  Overall, it was a great experience to be able to watch the tournament and to see how the top fighters in jiu jitsu grapple.

Conditioning Day

Good job testers on an amazing job on the conditioning portion of our test!  I'm glad to see that we were all able to face the challenges that were in our way.  The day started off with us pushing our limits, but as the day went on I could tell that the intensity was picking up.   With one week left, it is important that we recover and make sure that we are mentally ready for the grading day.  Great job Forged!

Conditioning

Conditioning day was difficult, but I was proud to see everyone push through to the end. Due to my calves cramping, I wasn't able to complete the last part of the work out, with the wheelbarrows and leg lifts. I felt bad that I couldn't complete that bit with you guys, but you all did great. I have to say though that sprints were not my strong part,  I mostly ran for endurance instead of speed this year. I think that's why my calves cramped up. That's something I definitely need to work on before my third degree test.

Conditioning day

Good job testers!  Conditioning day is almost done, and we've all done such a great job.  It was amazing to see everyone fight through their pain and keep going.  We're coming up to the end, and we'll only have one more week until grading day.  Let's keep up this awesome attitude and take on any challenge that we face.

Video Journals

I just wanted to give an update on my video journals.  As of right now, I only have three up on the Youtube page.  I have a few more that are filmed, but I still need to upload it.  I had an idea of filming one during our conditioning test, in order to see what helps fuel black-belt testers while they are training.  I'm hoping that I will be able to put together an awesome video showing how we "eat like a black belt" while going through an intense training.

Conditioning Day

Tomorrow is conditioning day!

I just wanted to say good luck to my fellow testers as we face this test as a team.  It's been a great year, and a great test.  Our journey through the Forged test will never be repeated.  I feel like we are ready to take on any challenge thrown at us, and face it with a positive attitude.  Let's all give 110% tomorrow and show why we deserve our black-belts!

School year

Since school started, my schedule has been very hectic.  Some days, I wake up at 5:00 to go to school, and I'm at school until 4:00 pm.  I go straight to Aim High after that to teach and do class, and I get home around 9:30.  After doing homework and cleaning my gear, it's almost midnight.  It's been a challenge trying to balance training with school.  However, I face this with a positive, black-belt attitude, and I am able to get through my day with a smile!

School

It's been a few weeks since school started, and I think I forgot how much time homework takes. It's been interesting trying to juggle something else right before testing, but it's been exciting and different. It's a different enviroment than what I'm use to. Though I'm getting use to doing homework again, I really like my english and history class so far. Going back to school also means new routine to the week. Now I'm the one taking care of the kids in the morning. Making sure Jae, Jordan, Taylor, and JD are fed, making school lunches, and walking them to the bus stop, was something I didn't have to worry about last year. Though there are a couple more things on my plate, I've tried to keep my focus in check. Can't  get distracted this close to testing.

Saturday August 18th

Today a group of the Forged testers did a river clean up at the Clackamas River. It was sad to see how quickly it took us to fill up the rafts with trash only traveling a few miles in.
It was sad to also see trash floating in the water.  It was interesting to see how people reacted to us cleaning up. Some of them thanked us for our work. One group left us their trash to pick up, leaving behind uneaten pizza and cookies. It was a great team experience though, and I'm glad we were able to do a little bit to help the enviroment.

Warrior Dash

This year, although I was unable to run the Warrior Dash, I volunteered.  Along with other Aim Highers, we volunteered during the morning shift.  There was another group that helped out in the afternoon shift.  It was a great experience.  The Warrior Dash is a huge event, so there were lots of volunteers.  There were people working registers, cheering on participants, and we even had some Aim Highers working on the fire pit!  I was in the check-in tent where people could drop off there bags.  While there, we saw hundreds of participants (some wearing great costumes) check in their stuff before the race.  Our team had a great system for checking in bags, and we were moving fast.  It was fun to see everyone with a great attitude, and to see all of the muddy participants after they were done.  The best part was being able to volunteer, because without great people that are willing to help, awesome events like the Warrior Dash could never happen.

Field Trip

At my school, we go on a field trip to the beach at the beginning of every year.  It is a way for us to really get to know the new students, as well as to bring the school community closer together.  We do activities like sand castle building, tug-of-war, and scavenger hunts.  We always end with a clean-up of the beach.  We all line up at one end of the beach, and we walk slowly in a straight line picking up trash along the way.  We found things ranging from broken buckets to beer cans.  It was disappointing to see all the trash, but it was great that we were able to get about 200 people together to help make the environment a better place.

Journals

It's been a while since the last time I've journaled, but I have had a few things I wanted to talk about.

In these recent classes, I have noticed that the intensity has really picked up.  At the start of the test, it seemed like we were having a hard time getting into black belt intensity.  It seemed as if we were going through the moves instead of giving it 110% every day.  Now, I see everyone kicking and punching at a level 10 with a smile on their face.  With tomorrow being conditioning day and next week being the test, it's great to look back and see how far we've come since then.

Empathy

For my first degree black belt test, I went mute for a day.  It was one of the most difficult things I had ever done.  It really shows how we take basic abilities for granted every day.   This year, I decided to do blindness for my empathy training.  It was a lot different than being mute.  The hardest part about being mute is communicating.  It was difficult to explain ideas and to respond to other people's questions.  However, when you are blind, you can communicate.  The difficulty with being blind is in doing daily tasks.  One of the things I did was washing dishes.  It was very hard trying to make sure that each dish was scrubbed and that they made it into the drying rack.  I realized that others can help me, though.  My sister was able to tell me if I missed something, or whether it was in the right place or not.  This shows that as a black belt, we must understand that some people live with this every day.  We  should help those who need it; not only those with disabilities, but anyone who needs help in general.  It is important that we always try give back to the community, and to do it with a positive attitude.

Todays succeses and pains :D

Hello team im back again and tonight i felt so good and yet not... Im feeling good today because me and my team are going to test for black belt because we got all of our requirements done in time. And im very happy that my team worked together and did it. The reason why it doesnt feel good because i just got kicked in the leg like 50 times today :D it was hard and intesnse i cried because i was in pain and also because i didnt want to put anyone else in pain. But either way i still had a great day! Have a awesome night/day whatever time you're reading this! sincerly,Clark.Ahrendt

Secret Event

So I  was just thinking about our event we did last week, and remembering how terrified I was up there. There was no way to go up there and do the course halfway, because you couldn't just climb down the tree. The only way to get down was when you reached the zipline at the end. It was good that we did that though- I definitely had to push aside my fears- which I'm not sure I did successfully or not. I had just had to keep on thinking that each little step I took, led me closer to the end. I know it's more about what you're doing to achieve your goal, instead of the end result, but it's nice to know that every thing you do can contribute to your end goal.